Shannon Banks Nature Trail Walk (Brown Route) — Attraction in County Westmeath

We spent some time in Athlone after our tour of Court and Killarney. This Nature tour started near the back entrance to Sean's bar (one of the oldest bars in the world). The Walk follows a trail through a nature area and around the perimeter of the town. The signage hasn't been updated in quite some time, and there are 2 distinct trails. If you take the route we did and go out next to the water up river, it is supposed to take an hour and a half. The trail is said to be a loop, but when we talked to locals we discovered it was not passable. We were getting to the end and it was getting dark. That said the signage was not accurate. The trail comes to an abrupt end, as it hasn't been maintained. You'll have to do some scrambling to get to the end, as you're getting back into town. Turning around and walking in the dark, that walk back would be prohibitive. The trail takes you in some very beautiful natural areas and so there is no street lighting. Just be aware and plan for a three hour walk. The walk was quite nice one areas could do with some cleaning up and fixing of a walkway and bridge. It was a surprise at my age (62) to be traversing walls and balancing on a damaged bridge but also exciting Be prepared my...

This is the brown route along the old Athlone canal which includes a playground.

Parking space is minimal and its a residential area so be careful regarding where you park your vehicle.

Personally, I prefer the green route which is in the opposite direction however it might be a bit too long of a walk for many people so this is a good alternative.

Overall a decent place especially for children to...

No designated parking, path could do with being cleaned after flooding as it has left a brown "crust" on the surface which sticks to wheels on a buggy. Nice enough walk otherwise but could...